Circuit level designers typically develop electronic circuits using plans, the most commonly encountered plans being Characterization Plans and Synthesis Plans, which have much in common, although their end purpose is very different. In both cases, designers need tools to assist in characterizing and verifying the circuit (i.e. acquiring characterization results for the circuit through simulation), tools to assist visual and data processing analysis of the characterization results, tools to assist in the creation of behavioral models for a circuit, and tools to provide mechanisms that enable reuse of characterization efforts in the development of plans and for characterization of other designs.
Traditionally these tools have been supplied piecemeal, often by a variety of different manufacturers, which leads to inconsistencies and to much lost time and money as developers learn to master multiple complex systems. In addition, these tools often must be licensed for use by each designer, which greatly increases the cost of providing the tools throughout the corporation. The alternative, of not providing all of the required tools to each designer because of cost constraints, would mean that only certain designers could have access to the tools, and the entire development effort would be hampered.